God

Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory

God is Celie’s salvation for most of the book—by communicating with God through letters, she is able to maintain a certain sanity. Halfway through the book, in a discussion with Shug, Celie confesses that she sees God as a white man with a beard. And since Celie has some serious issues with men, she’s now having some issues with God. Through the remainder of the book, and with the help of Shug, Celie comes to realize that God has no gender and no race. God is not male and God is not white. For a while, Celie strays away from God, preferring to write to Nettie. However, her last letter is again written to God. Now we see that Celie’s notion of God has dramatically changed. Celie’s final entry is addressed to "Dear God. Dear stars, dear trees, dear sky, dear peoples. Dear Everything. Dear God." Not only does Celie see God in nature, but in everything, including her fellow human beings.